Critical Aid Dispatched for Wildfire First Responders in Maui

Emergency medical aid departs Direct Relief's warehouse for Hawaiian communities impacted by wildfire on Aug. 9, 2023. The organization will continue to ship requested medicines and medical supplies in response to the fires that have killed at least 36 people in Maui and displaced many. (Brea Burkholz/Direct Relief)

By Lara Cooper

August 10, 2023

Emergency medical aid requested by first responders in Maui is en route to the island as wildfires raged Thursday. At least 36 people have been killed as a result of the fires, officials said, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes and remain without power.

On Wednesday, emergency shipments containing emergency medical backpacks for triage care departed for Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island. Respiratory medications, N-95 masks, and chronic disease management medications also departed from Direct Relief’s California warehouse for the islands.

The organization has opened up its $360 million (wholesale) medical inventory in California for emergency response and will fulfill medical requests.

Medical shipments are on the way to local organizations, including Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, a group responding to needs, including those of pregnant women, newborns, and their families that have been displaced or impacted by the fires.

A shipment for the group departed Wednesday and included emergency medical backpacks, for triage care outside of clinic walls, and a wildfire response kit, specifically built with medical essentials commonly requested during wildfires, which includes respiratory medications and PPE.

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to wildfires and has refined a wildfire response kit that can be quickly dispatched to first responders on the ground. The kit contains PPE, respiratory medications, nebulizers, ophthalmic treatments, chronic disease medications, and more. A wildfire response kit was shipped Wednesday to Healthy Mothers, Health Babies Coalition of Hawaii, a local organization deploying to shelters and communities impacted by fires. (Photo by Erin Feinblatt for Direct Relief)

More than 300 personal care kits, with hygiene items, including soap and toothpaste, for people displaced due to evacuation, have also been sent.

Shipments will continue this week, and Direct Relief is in contact with the Hawaii Department of Health, the Federal Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response (ASPR) Region 9, the Hawaii Primary Care Association, and more than 15 other healthcare facilities in Hawaii in response to the recent outbreak of wildfires.

In addition to acute medical issues such as burns and smoke inhalation, wildfires can also prompt mass evacuations, creating further health risks. When people are suddenly displaced from their homes, they may leave without critical medications to manage chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. If unmanaged, these conditions can escalate, leaving the person requiring emergency care at a time when urgent care centers and emergency rooms are already inundated.

Fires can also create massive power outages (about 13,000 service addresses are currently without power on Maui, according to poweroutage.us), leaving large amounts of people without electricity, which can be deadly for those dependent on medical devices, including ventilators and medical oxygen.

Direct Relief will continue to respond to medical needs as requested.